The Tonk Chicago

Overview

The Tonk is an award winning Memphis style BBQ restaurant and bar in Pilsen, Chicago. They needed a website to showcase their menu, live music schedule, and catering / event services.

Role & Timeline

Role: Designer & Developer
Timeline: 4 weeks
Year: 2023
Ongoing Support: Weekly content updates

Approach

This was one of my first professional projects, so I kept the scope focused. The priority was building something reliable that could be updated quickly as their live music schedule and events change. I chose Bootstrap for its solid responsive grid system and pre-built components, which let me focus on the design rather than reinventing basic patterns.

Process

I started by working with the client to organize their existing content and figure out what they actually needed on the site. They had great photography and branding already, so my job was to build a structure that showed it off without getting in the way.

The design process involved collaborating with their graphic designer and social media team to keep everything consistent with their brand. I built out the pages using Bootstrap's grid system for layout and incorporated their assets throughout the site.

Takeaways

This project taught me that the best solution isn't always the most technically impressive one. Bootstrap might not be exciting, but it was exactly what this project needed: reliable, documented, and easy to maintain. With weekly content updates to handle for their music schedule and events, I needed something stable rather than a cutting-edge framework that would have introduced unnecessary complexity. That approach of choosing tools based on what the project actually needs has shaped how I work ever since.